Security forces launch search operation after suspected terrorist movement in J&K’s Poonch

Jammu: After receiving inputs about the suspicious movement of two separate groups of terrorists, joint security forces on Tuesday started a massive search operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

Officials said that the joint forces started the operation after receiving inputs about the suspected movement of terrorists at two locations in the remote Surankote area of the district.

Following the inputs, personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police, assisted by troops of the Rashtriya Rifles, launched a CASO (Cordon and Search Operation) in the Dhara Sangla, Gujjar Naar and Kherowali Dhok areas, along with adjoining forested villages.

The officials said the operation in the densely forested region is continuing although no contact or exchange of fire has taken place with the suspected terrorists so far.

“A systematic operation is going on to track the terrorists,” officials said.

Meanwhile, in another development, an old rusted mortar shell was recovered from the courtyard of a house near the International Border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district on Tuesday morning.

The unexploded shell came to light when labourers engaged in excavation work at the residence of Subash Chander in Kattal-Brahmana village noticed the suspicious object and immediately alerted the authorities, the officials said.

They said a police team, accompanied by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), rushed to the spot, secured the area and safely removed the mortar shell for disposal.

Unexploded mortar shells -- frequently classified as Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) -- are regularly discovered in the border areas of the union territory due to several historical and tactical reasons.

The frontier villages along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) have witnessed decades of military confrontations and ceasefire violations. During intense artillery exchanges, thousands of mortar shells are fired.

A significant percentage of these shells fail to detonate upon impact due to mechanical malfunction, soft-landing terrain, or fuse failures.

The border topography in regions like Poonch, Kupwara, and Rajouri is highly mountainous, forested, and muddy. When a mortar shell lands in dense mud, thick vegetation, or soft agricultural soil, the impact cushion often prevents the fuse from triggering detonation. Over time, these live shells become buried under silt or overgrown brush.

Mortar shells that have remained undetected underground for months or even decades are routinely exposed by environmental changes or human activity.